Tuesday, July 17, 2007

why are there so many summer birthdays?

Indigomouse, i only had time last night to whip up a quick stockinette swatch in telemark. i agree with you that the yarn seems awfully thick for a sportweight. i used #3 addi turbos, and my row gauge was spot on. my stitch gauge was slightly fewer stitches per inch, but the stranding will undoubtedly pull it in, so that is the needle i will start with. because i'm so anti-swatch, i often start the project and then have to rip it out and start over. don't ask me why i do not consider this process to be a waste of time, while a swatch is. that's just how i roll. i also picked my colors, but i will leave that as a surprise.

in the meantime, i have some finished stuff to show. i decided to leave the wonky potholder for my stepmother's birthday gift (in the hopes that she will be more forgiving of my mistakes), and i'm making her the oven mitt also. for my coworker's birthday, i whipped out this luxe neckwarmer from Knit 2 Together.i used a little over one skein of Patons SWS in natural denim on #10 addi turbos. i don't particularly care for feather n fan, but it is easy and yet looks impressive. i highly recommend this pattern as a great last-minute gift. i knit this in a couple of hours.

i also finished my mother's monkey socks. i used #2 addi turbos, 2 socks 1 circ, one skein of Some Assembly Required sock yarn from Socks that Fit, an RAK from Zonda. i handdyed the yarn with food coloring. the socks are sized to fit a women's 8.5 foot.i knit the pattern as written, except that i substituted a garter ridge EOP heel. i really like the way that it looks. not to toot my own horn, but i'm pleasantly surprised how the yarn knit up. i was expecting pooling because the skein was dip dyed half and half with 2 colors, so the repeats are fairly long. i still kind of wish that i had been able to achieve a darker brown to throw into the mix, but i think that my mom will really like the way they came out. i would knit the monkey pattern again but with many modifications, just to keep it interesting.

finally, it occurred to me that it has been a good long while since i last knit a pair of socks for myself. so to rectify that situation, i cast on for the vinnland socks from the anticraft. i'm using my new #1 addi lace circs and some fingering weight BFL 2ply handspun that i got in a trade. i am loving the pattern so far--it's fun to knit and it looks so unique. i have finished one short-row heel and am ready to work the second.

and i'm still not done with birthday gifts. i cut out some fabric for the oven mitt, but that's as far as i've gotten.

7 comments:

You did one better than me by measuring row gauge. I never remember to do that. I've started the lining in some extra sock yarn I have, and it's going so slowly. It's been the longest 1/2 inch of my life, and I have 2.5 inches to go before I get to the cool pattern part.

Your Monkeys came out great! I can't believe that's your own hand-dye. So what is the deal with that pattern anyhow? Any idea why it's so popular?

Yeah, what is up with the Telemark? I just bought some and thought it was odd that the worsted Wool of the Andes (with the same fiber content as Telemark) is 110 yds/50 gms but the supposed sport-wt Telemark is only 103 yds/50 gms. Is it extremely dense or what?

che, i love my kp circs, but the 32" cord just wasn't long enough for two socks at once. at least, it felt very uncomfortable to me. so i splurged for a 47" addi. now, i think the 47" is a little too long, 40" probably would've been just right, but in the interest of not owning 5000 #1 needles, i'm settling for these.

they feel about the same as the kp circs otherwise. nice point and flexible cable.